Fuzzy update Tuesday night

[carrythehare]

Just spoke to the vet by phone.   Fuzzy seems to be eating the alfalfa hay  (I don’t want to jinx it).   His poo size seems better.  (Again,  I don’t want to jinx it).   The vet and I agreed to the following:

I have to take my other rabbit,  Pepperoni,  to the vet on Tuesday.   If Fuzzy is doing ok,  I’ll wait til Tuesday to talk to the vet about Fuzzy.   I might bring Fuzzy back for a teeth recheck.  We agreed to give it a few days to see if Fuzzy will continue to eat alfalfa.  

The vet  said that for some bunnies,  alfalfa hay tastes MUCH BETTER to them.   ALso,   to let him eat alfalfa hay if he’ll do it because the fiber is more important than worrying about calcium levels in alfalfa.   I tried lots of very fresh good-smelling Oxbow Timothy hay,  but Fuzzy just will NOT eat it.  (Pepperoni,  in contrast,  will eat the whole bag if I let him.)   Maybe Fuzzy just developed a food quirk.  I hope its NOT dental issues.

[MooBunnay]

I would recommend watching out for alfalfa hay, it is not recommended for adult bunnies. It is much higher in calories, and can lead to digestive issues, some bunnies get poopy bum from the alfalfa because of the extra calories and it can also cause weight gain.

Instead of feeding Fuzzy all alfalfa hay, I would recommend sprinkling a bit of alfalfa hay in with mainly timothy hay. Also, you can try some different varieties of hay, I know that a few picky bunnies from the shelter really like the different types of hay that BinkyBunny sells in the BinkyBunny store (e.g. the meadow grass, or the blends of hay).

[Beka27]

i don’t know much about this product b/c it’s new, but maybe mention this to your vet… it’s called FIBRevive and it’s available from Oxbow… here’s the site about it:  http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/products/type/detail   if your vet thinks it might help, it would be worth a shot to try it… and the base of it is timothy so you don’t have to worry about the excess calories in the alfalfa…

[peepi&warri]

I used to feed my buns Oxbow timothy hay. Peepi was always really picky about it, sometimes barely eating any, and a few months ago both of them pretty much stopped eating the hay all together. I bought new bags of timothy for them but they still barely ate it. I started giving them orchard grass hay I buy for my goats and both of my buns loved it and now I see them eating hay a lot more often than I saw with the Oxbow timothy.

I’ve noticed that the Oxbow hay doesn’t always smell the same (sometimes its sweeter smelling) most likely due to different cuttings, seasonal variances or something like that. I think it was the sweeter smelling hay that Peepi didn’t like too, which I thought was odd.

[BinkyBunny]

I’m sorry to hear all about fuzzy’s troubles. It can be stressful when we don’t know what the heck is going on with our bunnies! Rucy has had many dental issues, and is very particular about her hay! 

Was the vet just suggesting continuing alfalfa as a temporary solution to  figure out what is going on or as a permanent solution?  The reason people are shy of alfalfa is not only because of the calcium content but the calorie and nutrient content (richer) and we’ve seen digestive problems happen as a result of a diet being too rich.  So, of course, since we care very what’s happening with your bunny, we don’t want to see this cause more problems. But in the end you have to follow the advice of who you trust and IF you trust your vet, then go with that. IF you don’t, then seeking a second opinion from another vet would be good.

But either way, I am sorry for what you are having to go through. I have had a bunny who had three dental surgeries – two while she was in my care, and so I know how stressful it is. Rucy is missing several molars and an incisor and she can really only eat the softer hays – 2nd cut timothy or orchard. (but the 2nd cut Timothy’s are her favorite because it’s the softest) Maybe that’s what would work for fuzzy too?

Sending out peace and healing vibes for whatever may be the problem!

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